Barcode
InventorNorman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver
Year1952
CategoryComputing
OriginUSA
About Barcode
Woodland sketched the idea by drawing Morse code dots and dashes in the sand of Miami Beach and stretching them into lines. He and Silver patented a bullseye shaped code in 1952. It became practical only with lasers and cheap computers. The first product scanned with the Universal Product Code was a pack of Wrigley chewing gum in an Ohio supermarket in 1974.